Joni L Mihura

University of Toledo · Department of Psychology

[See Table 4 for Rorschach variables Assessing Psychosis] We systematically evaluated the peer-reviewed Rorschach validity literature for the 65 main variables in the popular Comprehensive System (CS). Across 53 meta-analyses examining variables against externally assessed criteria (e.g., observer ratings, psychiatric diagnosis), the mean validity...

This is Chapter 1 of the book Using the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (2018) edited by Joni L Mihura & Gregory J Meyer.

Charles Manson gained notoriety and infamy for orchestrating the “Tate–LaBianca” murders of seven individuals in August 1969. In 1971, he received the death penalty for his involvement in these killings. The death penalty was invalidated in 1972 by the U.S. Supreme Court. He served out his life sentence until his death in November 2017 in the Calif...

Conducting multimethod psychological assessments is a professional competency that uniquely distinguishes psychologists from other health providers. However, no overarching professional guidance exists as to what specific assessment methods to use for what specific purposes. This chapter serves as a basic primer to address that gap in the literatur...

Until Sept. 18, 2024, you can access the article for FREE here: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1jPDk3HQGmiIt5 ******************* We reevaluated HiTOP's existing factor analytic evidence-base for a Psychosis (P) superspectrum as encompassing two psychosis-relevant subfactors (“spectra”)—Thought Disorder (TD) and Detachment (D). We found that their...

This chapter discusses key challenges and improvements needed in the assessment of personality and psychopathology, which are accompanied with recommendations. The case is made that systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be required for psychological test scales like they are for psychotherapy. The chapter encourages the field of assessment to...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380345725_An_Empirically_Informed_Framework_for_Multimethod_Assessment_with_a_Focus_on_Psychosis ******************************************************************** Conducting multimethod psychological assessments is a professional competency that uniquely distinguishes psychologists from other health provi...

The factor structure of Personality Disorder (PD) criteria has long been debated, but due to previous heterogenous findings, a common structure to represent covariation among DSM-IV/DSM-5 Section II PD criteria remains an open question. This study integrated a total of N = 30,545 PD assessments from 25 samples to conduct an individual participant m...

In this brief article, we update the training of newer versions of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Rorschach and compare to a 2015 assessment training survey of American Psychological Association accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs. The survey sample sizes for 2015, 2021, and 2022 were 83, 81, and 88, respect...

We investigated how scores from the Rorschach task and self-reports of psychotic-like disturbance distinguish individuals attempting to appear insane (i.e., feigning) from patients with psychotic disturbances or nonpatient controls. We also evaluated whether Rorschach scores provide incremental validity over self-reported symptoms. The study used 5...

This chapter provides a description of the most contemporary and empirically supported version of the Rorschach inkblot test—the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS). R-PAS was designed by members of John Exner’s Rorschach Research Council as a replacement for his Comprehensive System (CS) after he unexpectedly passed away. Currently, R-...

This comprehensive chapter examines the nature of the psychosis spectrum from multiple perspectives. Beginning with a definition of psychosis and psychotic phenomena, the chapter summarizes criteria from the fifth edition, text revision, of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the 11th revision of the International Classifi...

In this comprehensive review, the authors examine the nature of the psychosis spectrum from multiple perspectives. Beginning with a definition of psychosis and psychotic phenomena, the authors summarize DSM-5-TR and ICD-11criteria and clarify conceptual, terminological, and cultural issues that help sharpen the understanding of the structural facto...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has required psychologists to adopt measures like physical distancing and mask wearing, though other safety procedures such as travel restrictions or prohibitions on in-person practice and research have fostered the use of tele-health tools. In this article, we review options for using the Rorschach task via videoconfe...

Our study addresses the question, “In what settings, with what age groups, and for what purposes is the Rorschach used internationally?” We present preliminary results from 342 Rorschach users representing 36 different countries from a survey created as part of the US contribution to a larger international project on teaching and using the Rorschac...

In its first 100 years, the Rorschach has been heralded as a valuable method for investigating disturbances in thought organization and reasoning. It has survived periods of intense scrutiny and criticism, as contemporary researchers continued to demonstrate the empirical validity of the Rorschach as a measure of disordered thinking ( Mihura et al....

While recent survey findings suggest graduate programs in health service psychology (HSP) are allocating the same or increased time to education and training in psychological assessment over the last two decades, there is a lack of clear guidance for programs to implement practices associated with quality education and training. These Guidelines (f...

Background Consistent with the contemporary literature that psychosis constructs are best represented as continuous syndromes, this study aims to determine if dimensional psychosis measures outperform traditional categorical measures, thereby improving detection of symptom severity. The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) contains meta-...

https://www.apaservices.org/practice/reimbursement/health-codes/testing/tele-assessment-covid-19

This book is an update of Paradigms of Personality Assessment by Jerry Wiggins (2003, Guilford), a landmark volume in the personality assessment literature. The first half of Wiggins (2003) described five major paradigms: psychodynamic (as exemplified by the Rorschach and TAT), narrative (interview data), interpersonal (circumplex instruments), mul...

Smith et al. (2018) is described as "an evaluation as to the extent that individual studies have conformed to [Exner's (1995a)] proposed methodological criteria" (Abstract). However, the authors did not conduct analyses to compare research before and after Exner (1995a) to assess its impact nor were the set of criteria they used Exner's. Instead, t...

Smith et al. (2018) describe their article as “an evaluation as to the extent that individual studies have conformed to [ Exner’s (1995a) ] proposed methodological criteria” (Abstract). However, the authors did not conduct analyses to compare research before and after Exner (1995a) in order to assess its impact nor were the set of criteria they use...

The Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011 Meyer, G. J., Viglione, D. J., Mihura, J. L., Erard, R. E., & Erdberg, P. (2011). Rorschach Performance Assessment System: Administration, coding, interpretation, and technical manual. Toledo, OH: Rorschach Performance Assessment System. [Google Scho...

We examined associations among cognitive processing measures that varied on a continuum from maximum to typical performance tasks in the context of an ego depletion study. Our intent was to replicate and extend the findings of Charek, Meyer, and Mihura, which showed that ego depletion had an expected effect on selected scores from the Rorschach ink...

Extensive research demonstrates that the dimensional assessment of psychotic manifestations is a primary strength of the Rorschach inkblot task, which provides an in vivo sample of problem-solving behavior and normative standards concerning the logic and coherence of thought processes and the typicality of perceptual representations. This article p...

This article documents and discusses the importance of using a formal systematic approach to validating psychological tests. To illustrate, results are presented from a systematic review of the validity findings cited in the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003) test manual, originally conducted during the manuscript review process for M...

Traditionally, personality tests have been dichotomized into two categories: projective and objective personality tests. Projective tests are a group of personality tests that work by allowing the person who takes the test to illustrate aspects of their personality through taking the test, whereas Objective tests are self-report questionnaires. The...

From Guilford: From codevelopers of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS), this essential casebook illustrates the utility of R-PAS for addressing a wide range of common referral questions with adults, children, and adolescents. Compelling case examples from respected experts cover clinical issues (such as assessing psychosis, persona...

Controlling the number of Rorschach responses (R) as a method to reduce variability in the length of records has stimulated controversy among researchers for many years. Recently, the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011 ) introduced an R-Optimized method to reduce variability in R. Using 4...

Recently, psychologists have emphasized the response process-that is, the psychological operations and behaviors that lead to test scores-when designing psychological tests, interpreting their results, and refining their validity. To illustrate the centrality of the response process in construct validity and test interpretation, we provide a histor...

We evaluated the utility of an integrative, multimethod approach for assessing hostility-related constructs to predict premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature coronary heart disease (CHD) using participants from the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study, which was designed to identify risk factors for heart disease. Participants were assessed...

Joni L. Mihura is a clinical psychologist who is an associate professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Mihura’s area of research expertise is personality assessment, with a special focus on the Rorschach. She is a codeveloper of a new international, empirically based Rorschach test (the Rorschach Performance Asses...

We surveyed American Psychological Association-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs' (n = 83) training in psychological assessment-specifically, their coverage of various assessment topics and tests in courses and practica, and whether the training was optional or required. We report results overall and separately per training model (cl...

We respond to Tibon Czopp and Zeligman's (2016) critique of our systematic reviews and meta-analyses of 65 Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) variables published in Psychological Bulletin (2013). The authors endorsed our supportive findings but critiqued the same methodology when used for the 13 unsupported variables. Unfortunately, their commenta...

The assessor should be attuned to the multifaceted aspects of the client's gender and sexual identity and consider how they figure into the client's experience of self and other. By having an awareness of how gender and sexual biases may enter into various stages of a psychological assessment, the assessor may identify ways to mitigate them. The as...

Handbook of Gender and Sexuality in Psychological Assessment brings together two interrelated realms: psychological assessment with gender and sexuality. This handbook aids in expanding the psychological assessors' knowledge and skill when considering how gender and sexuality shape the client's and the assessor's experiences. Handbook of Gender and...

Assessors benefit their clients by attending to clients' multiple identities, not simply those that arc initially salient or explicitly linked to the referral question. Assessors should be aware of their own identities, which include assumptions, biases, and value systems that can limit assessors' abilities to allow clients' narratives to unfold fu...

In our final chapter, we discuss key areas of focus for the future regarding sex, gender, and sexuality in psychological assessment. In this final chapter, we describe and discuss key chapter themes and their implications, which we group in sections on the client, the assessor, the assessment proper, and the assessment research. Subsequently, we ma...

We investigated the impact of ego depletion on selected Rorschach cognitive processing variables and self-reported affect states. Research indicates acts of effortful self-regulation transiently deplete a finite pool of cognitive resources, impairing performance on subsequent tasks requiring self-regulation. We predicted that relative to controls,...

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a performance-based personality instrument published by Henry Murray and Christiana Morgan in 1943. For decades, the TAT has ranked among the three most widely used personality assessment instruments in clinical settings, along with the Rorschach inkblot method and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Invent...

Clinical psychology shares similarities with several other disciplines, especially in regard to providing psychotherapy or counseling services, such as counseling psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, social work, marriage and family therapy, psychoanalysis, and various counseling subspecialties (e.g., substance abuse counselors). Although t...

The Rorschach inkblot test is a popular performance-based personality test developed by Hermann Rorschach (1884–1922). The test consists of 10 inkblots: 5 are achromatic and 5 include chromatic colors. Respondents are asked what the inkblots “might be.” Their responses are coded, tabulated, and compared with norms for interpretation. In the mid 190...

Wood, Garb, Nezworski, Lilienfeld, and Duke (2015) found our systematic review and meta-analyses of 65 Rorschach variables to be accurate and unbiased, and hence removed their previous recommendation for a moratorium on the applied use of the Rorschach. However, Wood et al. (2015) hypothesized that publication bias would exist for 4 Rorschach varia...

We examined the association of gender, ethnicity, age, and education with 60 Rorschach scores using three clinical and nonclinical samples of adults and youths (ns = 640, 249, and 241). As anticipated for our data sets, there were no reliable associations for gender, ethnicity, or adult age. However, in adults years of education was associated with...

The Mutuality of Autonomy scale (MA) is a Rorschach variable designed to capture the degree to which individuals mentally represent self and other as mutually autonomous versus pathologically destructive (Urist, 1977). Discussions of the MA's validity found in articles and chapters usually claim good support, which we evaluated by a systematic revi...

We surveyed practicing clinicians who regularly used the Rorschach about the perceived clinical validity of specific Rorschach scores from many coding systems. The survey included quantitative feedback on the validity of specific variables as well as qualitative input in several areas, including the validity of specific variables, the potentially u...

This article presents a logical and empirical argument for the necessity of a multi-method approach to psychological assessment. Both in clinical and forensic psychology, self-report methods such as questionnaires and interviews are popular. The Rorschach is presented in this article as an additional test method. The article describes recent meta-a...

We examined the structure of 9 Rorschach variables related to hostility and aggression (Aggressive Movement, Morbid, Primary Process Aggression, Secondary Process Aggression, Aggressive Content, Aggressive Past, Strong Hostility, Lesser Hostility) in a sample of medical students (N= 225) from the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study (The Johns Hopkins Un...

In this study, we developed the Rorschach Alexithymia Scale (RAS) to be used with protocols scored with the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1993). A total of 92 patients with medical disease and 127 psychiatric outpatients were administered the Rorschach and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994a, 1994b). We used a s...

This study evaluates the psychometric properties and factor structure of two clinician-judgment suicide risk assessment instruments--the Suicide Assessment Checklist developed by Yufit and the other developed by Rogers. As an archival study, 85 client records were obtained through a university psychology clinic. Internal consistency was high for on...

In this article, we describe the impact of Rorschach (Exner, 20037. Exner , J. E. Jr. 2003. The Rorschach: A Comprehensive System: Vol. 1. Basic foundations and principles of interpretation, , 4th ed, New York: Wiley. View all references) card rotation and orientation preference on reflection responses. We anticipated exposure to sideways-orientat...

We provide a meta-analytic review of interrater reliability for scoring the 2 most commonly studied Rorschach (2003) aggression measures: (a) The Elizur (1949) Hostility Scale and its main derivative scoring systems (Holtzman, Thorpe, Swartz, & Herron, 1961; Murstein, 1956) and (b) Holt's (1977, 2005) aggression variables. Substantial reliability w...

Using 100 clinical cases, we examined the construct validity of the Mutuality of Autonomy (MOA) Scale (Urist, 1977) using Westen and Rosenthal's (2003) r(contrast - construct validity (CV)) procedure for quantifying a pattern of convergent-discriminant relationships between a target measure and a set of criterion variables. Our 15 criterion variabl...

To examine agreement on Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2004) interpretations, 55 patient protocols were interpreted by 3 to 8 clinicians across 4 data sets on a representative set of 29 characteristics. Substantial reliability was observed across data sets, although a problematic design produced lower results in one. Unexpectedly, a Q-s...

Observer ratings were collected using instruments designed to measure the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorders (Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ [PDQ-4+]; Hyler, 1994), the Big Five model (B5M; Goldberg's [1999] International Personality Item Pool), and...

The General Well-being Schedule is a brief indicator of subjective feelings of psychological well-being and distress. It is easy to administer, reliable, and valid, although its validity with American Indians has not been established. This study then assessed reliability, validity, and factor structure for a sample of 88 diabetic American Indians,...

This study investigated measures of aggressive drive derivatives on the Rorschach and Personality Assessment Inventory with 70 college students. As predicted, (a) self-reported physical aggression potential was related to Rorschach measures of identification with the aggressor and aggressive impulses, (b) suicidal ideation with impulsivity was rela...

American Psychological Association graduate student affiliates (500) were sent surveys regarding their Rorschach training experiences and interests. From 254 valid surveys, 87% of students reported that they were offered an introductory course that included the Rorschach; only about one fourth of the students were offered an advanced course. Of the...

This study investigated the relationship between Rorschach aggression variables and a self-report measure of interpersonal control and aggression (Structural Analysis of Social Behavior), rated for best and worst states, with 50 college students using forward stepwise regression analyses. Aggressive Movement (AG) was related to the report of self-a...

This study investigated the ability of the MMPI Wiener-Harmon subtle subscales (on scales D. Hy, Pd, Pa, and Ma) to serve as subtle or unobtrusive measures of their scales. Forty outpatients completed the MMPI under standard instructions, followed by a fake-good or fake-bad instructional set. First, we investigated the paradoxical effect found in t...

Differences in Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) response latencies between groups instructed to respond honestly or fake were explored. There were 120 undergraduate students who completed a computer administered MMPI-2 with instructions to either respond honestly, to underreport psychopathology, or to overreport psychopatholog...

This study examined the relative contribution of obvious and subtle item endorsement to the prediction of several clinical process and outcome variables. Wiener and Harmon's 1946 subtle and obvious subscales on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were used as predictor variables. Using a clinical population of 25 clients and 22 therapis...